Indicator.



No. 783,362. PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905.

I D. F. BRODERIGK.

INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5, 1904.

.4 SHBETS-BHEET l.

vwwnto c No. 783,362. PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905. D. P. BRODBRIGK.

INDICATOR.

. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5. 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

a5 Mutton ta s W puma Wm No. 783,362. I PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905. D. F. BRODBRIGK.

INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED F313. 5. 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

No. 783,362. PATENTED FEB. 21, 1905. D. F. BRODERIGK.

INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 5, 1904.

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' V h wanton .yg/wvlwib UNTTED STATES Patented February '21, 1905.

PATENT OEEIcE.

DAVID F. BRODERICK, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO LEVVIS'SPERRY, OF SOUTH WINDSOR, CONNECTICUT.

INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 783,362, dated February 21, 1905.

Application filed February 5, 1904. $erial No. 192,096.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID F. BRoDERIoK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hartford, Hartford county, Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Indicators, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to station-indicators for use in passenger coaches and cars.

The object is to provide an apparatus such as above referred to which shall be simple, durable, and effective and which an attendant in charge of a car may employ to readily advise passengers therein by means of printed signs the next street or station stop.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a car looking from one end toward the other and showing my indicator as it would appear in its preferred position. Fig. 2is a sectionon the line A A, Fig. 3. Fig. Sis an end elevation. Fig. 4 is a section on the line B B, Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 5 isasection on the line C C, Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 6 is a section on the line D D, Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 7 is in the main a view of the actuating mechanism in its position of rest. Fig. Sis a similar view of similar parts, the position of the parts being shifted. Fig. 9 is a horizontal section on the line E E, Fig. 3, looking up, certain parts being broken away. Fig. 10 is a plan view of a portion of the belt as it appears laid out flat. In this View certain other detailsof construction are 3, bearing designating characters to indicate the various stations or stopping-places.

4 5 are spring-rollers rotatably mounted on the frame 1. Springs 41 51 normally cause these rollers to rotate in opposite directions, respectively, to take up any slack in the belt 8. Any suitable mechanism may be provided 5 whereby the spring tension on the rollers 4 5 may be increased or diminished, as necessity requires.

The preferred means for varying the tension of each of the take-up rolls 4: and 5com- 55 prises an adjustable mounting for the springs 41 51. One end of each of these springs is attached to a shaft 52. The other end of each of said springs is attached to a stud or other fastening 55 on the inner end of its take-up 6c roll. The shaft 52 has a squared end projecting outside of the frame 1, and upon the squared end of this shaft is mounted a plate 53, which may be secured to the frame 1 by means of screws 54. If it is desired to vary the tension of the spring, a wrench is placed upon the squared end of the shaft 52. The screws 54 are removed and then by means of the wrench the shaft is turned until the spring tension has been increased or diminished to the desired extent. The screw-holes are then brought into register and the screws 54 introduced, thus fastening the shaft against rotation. The rollers& and 5 freely rotate on the shafts 52. 7 5

The d riving-drum 2 is the medium by which the belt is moved in either direction.

6 is a casing which may cover the drivingdrum and the rolls and all of the belt excepting certain indicating characters, there being a window in said casing to expose the desired character or characters.

In the preferred arrangement of my invention the indicator is placed transversely of and in the center of a car above the heads of the passengers. (See Fig. l.) The casing 6 is also provided with two windows facing in oppositedirections, so that the passengers in both ends of the car may readily read whatever characters may be centered within said windows. Upon the belt 3 I- print or otherwise affix two sets of oppositely-faced characters designating the stations, there being two occurrences for each station spaced apart the distance between the windows. (See Fig. 10.) Inasmuch as the belt extends down on one side and up on the other side of the driving-drum, this opposite facing of similar characters will cause said characters to be displayed right side up through each window. The belt 3 may be engaged with the drum 2, so as to be driven thereby in any well-known manner; but in the preferred form I attach to the belt at equal intervals transverse slats projecting beyond each edge of said belt, so as to engage in notches in the enlarged ends 21 21 of the driving-drum 2. These notches are spaced apart the same distance as the spacing of the slats 7 7 From the foregoing it follows that by rotating the driving-drum in either direction the belt will be moved in a corresponding direction, one of the springrolls paying out the belt while the other takes it up. To relieve undue strain and wear on the belt 1, I. may connect longitudinal strips 71 71 to the slats 7 7,, said strips extending the entire length of belt 3. By this arrangement the material of the belt may be anything that will properly take the designating characters. In the absence of the strips 71 71 the maker should select a material for the belt 3 which will withstand the wear and strain of use. In order to properly position the designating characters within the window or windows of the casing, I provide what I term a centering-slide 8,mounted on the stationary frame 1 and having reciprocal movement.

81 1s a long bearing on slide 8.

9 9 are pins projecting from the end of thedriving-drum 2, adjacent to said slide 8, said pins being equal-in number to the number of notches in the head of the drum 2. As shown, these pins 9 9 are adjacent to the notches, and in use when the station-designating character or characters stand in the proper position centered within the window two of these pins will rest upon the longbearing 81 of the centering-slide. In this position the slide will frictionally resist the rotation of the drum and hold the characters in the proper position. bring the drum to a centered position should it for any reason overrun or come short of the centered position when being actuated by the operator.

10 is a spring actuating slide 8 to normally cause the long bearing surface 81 to press toward the axis of rotation of the driving-drum and against pins 9 9.

The actuating mechanism has the capacity of moving the drum 2 in either direction. To accomplish this, I provide complete actuating mechanism at each end of said drum, the means at one end being designed to rotate the drum in one direction, while the means at the other end rotates the drum in an opposite direction.

23 23 are oppositely-faced ratchet-wheels pinned to shaft 22, as at 24:. (See Fig. 9.)

11 11 are pawl-carrying members rotatably mounted on the shaft 22 and adjacent to the ratchet-wheels 23 23. Each member 11 is provided with one or more spring-pressed pawls This slide, furthermore, tends to 12, which coact with said ratchetwheels. Each pawl 12 is specially shaped, so that one end is arranged to drive the ratchet-wheel 23 when the member 11 is rotated forwardly, whereas the heel of the pawl is arranged to engage with a suitable back-stop or tripping device, which throws the operative point out of engagement with the ratchet when the member 11 stands in its normal position. In the drawings I have shown each pawl-carrying member 11 equipped with two pawls 12 12, and located on the frame are two stationary stops 13 13, which perform several functions. For example, when the pawl-carrying member 11 is advanced and the driving-drum rotated ahead one step the pawl 12 encounters one of the stops 13, which not only checks its further advance, but also, by a camming action, presses the pawl into such tight contact with the ratchet as to check the further advance of the drum. When the pawl-carrying member is released, it then returns to its back position by means of a spring 1 1, secured at one end to the member 11 and at its other end to a stationary abutment 15 on the frame 1. When the pawl-carrying member reaches its back position, the pawl 12 will engage with the other stop 13 to the rear of it, which not only checks the backward movement of the member 11, but also trips the pawl so as to throw it out of engagement with the ratchet, thus leaving the drum entirely freed of the actuating mechanism. At this time the centering-slide is performing its function of holding the drum 2 in the proper position to expose the station designation centrally in the window.

16 16 are arms secured to and projecting from each pawl-carrying member 11 of the actuating mechanism, and to these arms may be connected suitable cords 16 16, which lead to that part of the car where the operator may be stationed-for example, the platform. In the preferred form of my invention the cord should lead from each end of each operating-lever to each platform, so that should the operator make a mistake and cause the indicator to rotate in such a direction as to bring into view the wrong station designation he may correct his mistake by pulling on the other cord.

While the form of my invention shown in the accompanying drawings is suflicient to enable me to illustrate and describe the principles thereof, it is obvious that it may be modifled in various respects without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim is 1. In an apparatus of the character described, a belt hearing at least two setsof oppositely-arranged designating characters, one character of each set located between two characters of the other set, means for shifting said belt to expose both characters of each set simultaneously.

2. In an apparatus of the character described, a single driving-drum, means coacting therewith to move said drum step by step in either direction and means coactingdirectly with the drum to center the said drum in each of its steps, a belt driven by said drum, a plurality ofsets of station-designating characters, the characters of two adjacent sets being arranged alternately on said belt, a spring take-up roller attached to each end of said belt, said drivingmeans being freed from said drum when the same is in a position of rest.

3. In anapparatus of the character described, a belt bearing designating characters, said characters being arranged in sets, two in a set, one of said characters of each set being located between the characters of an adjacent set, a driving-drum supporting said belt, and actuating mechanism cooperating directly with the drum for rotating it in either direction step by step, said actuating mechanism being entirely freed from said drum when the latter is in a position of rest.

I. In an apparatus of the character described, a beltbearing designating characters, said characters being arranged in sets, two in a set, one of said characters of each set being located between the characters of an adjacent set, a driving-drum supporting said belt, and actuating mechanism cooperating directly with the drum for rotating it in either direction step by step, said actuating mechanism being entirely freed from said drum when the latter is in a position of rest, and means for frictionally holding the drum in each of its positions to properly center the designating characters. 1

5. In an apparatus of the character described, a driving-drum, a belt, designating characters on one surface of said belt only said characters being arranged in sets one character of one set standing between two characters of another set, means for rotating said drum in either direction said means being disconnected from said drum when the latter is in a position of rest, spring-controlled rollers attached to the ends of the belts and exerting tension in opposite direction and means for varying the tension of said take-u p rollers.

6. In an apparatus of the character described, a belt bearing designating characters, a single driving-drum therefor, slats carried by said belt and engaging said drum, actuating mechanism for said driving-drum arranged at each end thereof, said mechanism including oppositely-faced ratchets on each end of the drum, a pawl for each ratchet, a pawl-carrying member for each pawl rotatably mounted concentrically with said shaft and adjacent to said ratchet, a stop for limiting the forward movement of the pawl-carrying members and engaging said pawl to hold it in intimate contact with the ratchet to check the forward rotation of the same, and means to return both pawl-carrying members to a normally inactive position and to free both pawls from said ratchets.

7. In an apparatus of the character described, a belt bearing designating characters, a driving-drum therefor, slats carried by said belt and engaging said drum, actuating mechanism for said driving-drum said mechanism including a ratchet on the drum, a pawl, a pawl carrying member rotatably mounted concentrically with said shaft and adjacent to said ratchet, a stop for limiting the forward movement of the pawl-carrying members and engaging said pawl to hold it in intimate contact with the ratchet to check the forward rotation'of the same, another stop to the rear of said pawl arranged to engage the heel of said pawl to trip it when the same is retracted and free the same from operative contact with the ratchet.

v 8. In an apparatus of the character described, a single driving-drum, independent actuating mechanism at each end thereof for rotating said drum in both directions, means coacting with said actuating mechanism to automatically disengage the same from the drum when the latter is in a position of rest and a centering device for holdingsaid drum against displacement in its position of rest.

9. In an apparatus of the character described, adriving-drum, a beltdriven thereby, actuating means for said driving-drum, a second actuating means for said driving-drum acting in opposite direction to said first actuating .means, both of said actuating means being disconnected from the drum when the latter is in its position of rest, two sets of oppositely-arranged designating characters on said belt one of said characters of each set being located between the two characters of the other set, and two windows spaced apart on opposite sides of the indicator to expose the two characters of any set simultaneously.

10. In an apparatus of the character described, a' single driving-drum, independent actuating mechanism at each end thereof for rotating said drum in both directions, means coacting with'said actuating mechanism to automatically disconnect the same from the drum when the latter is in a position of rest, and a centering device for holding said drum against displacement in its position of rest, notched flanges upon the ends of said drivingdrum, a belt supported upon said drum between said flanges, flat slats secured flatwise to said belt transversely of the length thereof and projecting beyond the edges thereof to engage in the aforesaid notches in said flanges.

Signed at New York, N. Y., this 3d day of February, 1904.

DAVID F. BRODERICK.

VVIUIGSSBSI R. O. MITCHELL, L. VREELAND.

IIO 

